Day: January 28, 2016

“What some people innovated, either to emulate the Christians who celebrate the birth of `Isa (as) or out of love for the Prophet (s)and in order to exalt him:Allah MAY reward them for such love and effort but not for the innovations […].

So one MAY magnify the birth date of the Prophet (s) upon him blessings and peace,AND treat it as a festival, perhaps obtaining IMMENSE REWARDfor it because of his good intentions in honoring the Messenger of Allah.”

This is a saying of someone who set fanaticism aside and sought to please Allah and his Prophet(s). As far as we are concerned, we commemorate the Mawlid for no other reason but what Ibn Taymiya said, “Out of love and veneration of the Prophet.”

And similarly what some people innovate by analogy with the Christians who celebrate the birth of Jesus, or out of love for the Prophet and to exalt him, and Allah may reward them for this love and effort, not on the fact that it is an innovation… To celebrate and to honor the birth of the Prophet and to take it as an honored season, as some of the people are doing, is good and in it there is a great reward, because of their good intentions in honoring the Prophet.

This is what “Salafis” cannot Stomach, for alltheir Love of Ibn Taymiyya, and they cannot seem to Forgive him for saying this!

One “Salafi” editor of the Iqtida’, Muhammad Hamid al-Fiqqi, has a two-page footnote here in which he exclaims:

“Kayfa yakunu lahum thawabun `ala hadha??… Ayyu ijtihadun fi hadha??”

“How can they possibly obtain a reward for this??… What effort is in this??”

and the contemporary “Salafi” scholars are all without exception cut from the same cloth of intemperance and deviation regarding Mawlid, substituting their ruling to that of Ibn Taymiyya although the latter should be sufficient for them.

Thus we see another “Salafi” author, Mashhur Al Salman, exploding in similar terms in his recent edition of Abu Shama’s al-Baith ala inkar al-bida (Assault on all innovations), because when it comes to Mawlid, Abu Shama instead of censoring it declares:

“Truly it is a praiseworthy innovation and a blessed one”!—

Abu Shamah al-Maqdisi(d.665AH), the Shaykh of Imam al-Nawawi (d.676AH), said in his book on innovations entitled: al-Ba`ith `ala inkar al-bida` wa al-hawadith:

The best innovation in our day is the remembrance of the Prophet’s birthday. On that day, people give much donations, make much worship, show much love to the Prophet, and give much thanks to Allah Almighty for sending them His Messenger to keep them on the Sunna and Shari`a of Islam.
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al-Imam al-Nawawi’s Shaykh, head of the famous Syrian school, Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyyah, the great Shafi`i jurist and traditionist, Abdur Rahman ibn Ismail, well-known as Abu Shamah states in his Risalah:

“And among the best innovated actions in these times are those actions that take place every year coinciding with the birth of the Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam) such as charity, good deeds, personal beautification, joy, and so forth, as they speak of love and reverence for the beloved Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallm)…”

–

Imam Abu Shamah al-Maqdisi wrote a treatise dealing specifically with innovation under the title al-Baith fi al-Bida wa al-Hawadith. Therein, pg. 29-31, he discussed Mawlid as a good innovation [bidah hasanah].

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Imam Nawawi (d.676AH) said in Sahih Muslim (6-21)
“The Prophet’s saying every innovation is a general-particular and it is a reference to most innovations. The linguists say, “Innovation is any act done without a previous pattern, and it is of five different kinds.'”

Imam Nawawi also said in Tahzeeb al Asma’ wal Sifaat, “Innovation inreligious law is to originate anything which did not exist during the time of the Prophet, and it is divided into good and bad.”

He also said, “Al-muhdathat (pl. for muhdatha) is to originate something that has no roots in religious law. In the tradition of religious law it is called innovation, and if it has an origin within the religious law, then it is not innovation.

Innovation in religious law is disagreeable, unlike in the languagewhere everything that has been originated without a previous pattern is called innovation regardless of whether it is good or bad.”

–

Abu Na’eem narrated from Ibrahim Al Junaid said, “I heard Ash-Shafi’i saying,
“Innovation is of two types; praiseworthy innovation and blameworthy innovation, and anything that disagrees with the Sunnah is blameworthy.'”

–

Imam Al Bayhaqi narrated in Manaqib Ash-Shafi’i that Ash-Shafi’i said,
“Innovations are of two types: that which contradicts the Qu’ran, the Sunnah, or unanimous agreement of the Muslims is a innovation of deception, while a good innovation does not contradict any of these things.”

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Imam Al `Izz bin Abdussalam said, at the end of his book, Al Qawa’id,
“Innovation is divided into obligatory, forbidden, recommended,disagreeable and permissible, and the way to know which is which is to match it against the religious law.”

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Imam al-Iraqi said,” This practice of making food and providing it, is not known from salaf, even though Providing food is desirable act at any time, but what if adding joy and happiness on the appearance of light of Prophet Hood in this month. This was not done by the predecessors but that does not mean this innovation (Bidah) is disliked because many innovations (Bidah’s) are not only desirable rather wajib. [Quoted by Tahir ul Qadri in his book Meelad un Nabi page no: 344 and attributed it to [ تشنيف الآذان :136 ]

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Further on in the same text Ibn Taymiyya mentions a fatwa given by Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal:

“…when the people told Imam Ahmad about a prince who spent 1000 dinars on the decoration of Qur’an he said: “That is the best place for him to use gold.”

mentions that Ibn Kathir, a muhaddith from among the followers of Ibn Taymiyya,

” in the last days of his life wrote a book entitled Mawlid Rasul Allahwhich was spread far and wide. That book mentioned the permissibility and recommendability of celebrating the Mawlid.”

Ibn Kathir’s book was edited and published in 1961.

In it he says, Page,19: “The Night of the Prophet’s birth is a magnificent, noble, blessed and holy night, a night of bliss for the believers, pure, radiant with lights, and of immeasurable price.”

—

Imam Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti said in his Hawi li al-fatawa:

“The Sheikh of Islam and hadith master of his age, Ahmad ibn Hajar (Asqalani) was asked about the practice of commemorating the birth of the Prophet, and gave the following written reply:

As for the origin of the practice of commemorating the Prophet’s birth, it is an innovation that has not been conveyed to us from any of the pious early muslims of the first three centuries, despite which it has included both features that are praiseworthy and features that are not.

If one takes care to include in such a commemoration only things that are praiseworthy and avoids those that are otherwise, it is a praise worthy innovation, while if ones does not, it is not.

An authentic primary textual basis from which its legal validity is inferable has occured to me, namely the rigorously authenticated(sahih) hadith in the collections of Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet came to Medina and found the Jews fasting on the tenth of Muharram (Ashura ‘), so he asked them about it and they replied: “It is the day on which Allah drowned Pharaoh and rescued Moses, so we fast in it to thanks to Allah Most high,” which indicates the validity of giving thanks to Allah for the blessings He has bestowed on a particular day in providing a benefit, or averting an affliction, repeating one’s thanks on the anniversary of that day every year, giving thanks to Allah taking * any various forms of worship such as prostration, fasting, giving charity or reciting the Koran…THEN WHAT BLESSING IS GREATER THAN THE BIRTH OF THE PROPHET, THE PROPHET OF MERCY, ON THIS DAY ?

IN LIGHT OF WHICH, ONE SHOULD TAKE CARE TO COMMEMORATE IT ON THE DAY ITSELF IN ORDER TO CONFORM TO THE ABOVE STORY OF MOSES AND THE TENTH OF MUHARRAM, [but] THOSE WHO DO NOT VIEW THE MATTER THUS DO NOT MIND COMMEMORATING IT ON ANY DAY OF THE MONTH, WHILE SOME HAVE EXPANDED ITS TIME TO ANY OF DAY THE YEAR,WHATEVER EXCEPTION MAY BE TAKEN AT SUCH A VIEW.”
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“ Al-Miqrizi mentioned that Shaykh al-Bulqini, his sons, and the judges of the four madhahib of his time, would all attend the Mawlid of the Prophet (sallAllahu alayhi wasallam).”

—

Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (d.561AH) used to host gatherings and give gifts in joy of this occasion on the 11th of every month, which is now known as Giyarwi Sharif. This practice is still performed to this day. It is written in Abu Muhammad Siyal Naqshbandi’s famous Tazkirah Ghause Azam that the Sultanul Awliya Shaykh Abdul Qadir Jilani (ra) celebrated the 11th day of every lunar month because inevitably it would go into the 12th doing a Mawlid every month.

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Jamal al-Din Ibn al-Ma’mun (d.587 AH)

He wrote about the Mawlid celebrations of the year 517 A.H. This is what he wrote:

“Next, the month of Rabī’ al-Awwal arrived, and we shall begin [the events of this month] by mentioning the thing for which it has become famous, namely, the birthday of the Master of the first and last, Muhammad, on the thirteen [sic.] day. And by way of charity, the Caliph presented 6000 dirhams from the fund of najāwa [an Ismailite tithe], and from the dar al-fitra he presented 40 dishes of pastry, and from the chambers of the trustees and caretakers of the mausoleums that lie between the Hill and Qarafa, where the Ahl al-Bayt lie, he gave sugar, almonds, honey, and sesame oil [as a gift] to each mausoleum. And [his Vizier] took charge of distributing 400 pounds (ratl) of sweets, and 1000 pounds of bread.”

—

Imam Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597AH) wrote a booklet of poems and sira to be read at mawlid celebrations. It is entitled Mawlid al-`arus and begins with the words: al-hamdu lillah al-ladhi abraza min ghurrati `arusi al-hadrati subhan mustanira: “Praise be to Allah Who has manifested from the radiance of the bridegroom of His presence a light giving daybreak…” [Mawlid al-`arus]

Also Ibn al-Jawzi in his book on Mawlid, says:

In Haramayn (i.e. Makkah Mukarrama and Madina Munawwarah), in Egypt, Yemen rather all people of Arab world have been celebrating Mawlid for long. Upon sight of the moon in Rabi ul Awwal their happiness touches the limits and hence they make specific gatherings for Dhikr of Mawlid due to which they earn immense Ajr and Success.[Bayan al-Mawlid an-Nabwi, Page 58]

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Imad al-Dīn al-Iṣfahānī (d. 597 AH) In his book, entitled, al-Barq al-Shāmī, he mentions how a certain Umar al-Mulla was responsible for a Zawiya in Mosul (in Iraq) and wrote about him:

“…every year, during the days of the mawlid of the Prophet, salla Allahu alayhi wa sallam, he would invite the governor of Mosul, along with the poets, who would come and sing their poems, and be rewarded [by the governor] for this.” (Also see Ibn Kathir, al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah, Vol:12, page, 782)

—

Ibn Jubayr (d.614 AH) writes in his Rihal (“Travels”), wherein he describes his observation of Mawlid in Makkah Al-Mukarramah:

“This blessed place [the house of the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam] is opened, and all enter to derive blessing from it (mutabarrikeen bihi), on every Monday of the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal, for on that day and in that month was born the Prophet sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam.”

This action (of celebrating the Mawlid) did not occur during the early times of the pious predecessors out of their exaltation and love for him(SalAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam), yet all of us together could not match even a single one of them in their love and exaltation of him(SalAllahu’alayhi wa sallam).

This is a good innovation (bidah hasana) If the intention of performer is to gather the righteous and send salat on Prophet peace be upon him and to feed the poor and needy with these conditions this much will be rewarded all the times. [Subul Al-Hudaa War-Rashaad fi Seerati Khayril ‘Ibaad” 1/442]

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Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah (d.751 AH), the best and most renowned student of Ibn Taymiyya, writes, on page 498 of “Madarij as-Salikin“:

“Listening to a good voice celebrating the birthday of the Prophet (s) or celebrating any of the holy days in our history gives peace to the heart, and gives the listener light from the Prophet (s) to his heart, and he will drink more from the Muhammadan spring (`ayn al-Muhammadiyya).”

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Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali(d.795AH)

Question:Is it permissible to gather during the month of Rabi` al-Awwal toremember the birth of the noble Prophet (s)Allah bless him and give him peace)?

Answer:In his Lata’if al-Ma`arif, a book on what Muslims should do for each month and season of the years, the great hadith master Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali held three lessons.

The first two lessons concerned the birth of the Prophet and the third and final lessons concerning his death.

Allah bless him and his family and give them peace. As a bare minimum, this shows that Ibn Rajab considered teaching about the life of the Prophet (s) Allah bless him and give him peace) during the month of Rabi` al-Awwal to be something not only permissible, but of such importance that it should be done in public. While virtually no Muslims denies the permissibility of studying the biography of the Prophet (s) Allah bless him and give him peace), a vocal minority claims that this is a [blameworthy] innovation.

Mentioning the birth and death of the Prophet (s) Allah bless him and give him peace as things that Muslims should do during the month of Rabi` al-Awwal is a clear indication from Ibn Rajab that it is permissible:

to learn about the birth and death of the Prophet (s) Allah bless him and give him peace)

to gather in public to do so

to emphasis doing it during Rabi` al-Awwal is permissible

While specific modalities of education about, reminding of, and commemoration of these things may take different rulings, they cannot be declared categorically impermissible.

“The birth of the Prophet (s) was celebrated by the people of Makkah who received blessings on account of it.”

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al-Shawkani (d.1250AH-1839 CE) in his book al-Badr at-tali, said, “It is permissible to celebrate the Prophet’s birthday.” He mentioned that Mullah Ali Qari held the same opinion in a book entitled al-Mawrid ar-Rawi fi al-Mawlid al-Nabawi, written specifically to support the celebration of the Prophet’s birthday. [al-Badr at-tali`]

Thuwaiba, who was the freed slave of Abu Lahab fed Rasolallah Sallalalhu ?alaihi wa sallam milk. Abu Lahab freed Suwaiba at the time when she informed him that a son has been born at your brother?s house. After the death of Abu Lahab he was seen in a dream, in which he said ?I am in severe punishment but this is lessened on Mondays, he showed his forefinger, and said that he would suck from it. This is so because it was with this finger that I freed Suwaiba when she informed of the birth of the Prophet, and she also fed the Prophet Sallalalhu ?alaihi wa sallam .. Ibn Jawzi states: Abu Lahab is that kaafir who has been specially referred to, in the Qur?an. If such a person can be rewarded for celebrating the Milaad of the Prophet Sallalalhu ?alaihi wa Sallam, then imagine how great the reward would be for a Muslim when he celebrates it.”

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Nawab Saddiq Hassan Khan Bhopali (d.1307 AH/1890 CE) said:
What is wrong in it if we cannot do dhikr of Prophet (salallaho alaihi wasalam)’s Seerah, his Hidaya, his Birth and his death evreyday, then we should do it every month and in days of Rabi Ul Awwal and they should not be left empty.
He writes further: A Person who does not get happy upon incidents of Mawlid and does not thank Allah for such a great blessing then “SUCH A PERSON IS NOT MUSLIM” [Ash Shamama tul Anbarah min Mawlid al Khayr ul Barah, Page No. 12]

He also said: The birth (of the Prophet (s) happened in Mecca at the time of Fajar on Monday 12th Rabi-ul-Awal in Aam-ul-Feel. Majority of scholars holds this opinion. Ibn Jawzi has narrated a consensus (of scholars) on it. [Ash-Shumama-tul-Anbariya Fi Mowlid Khair-al-Bariya, Page 7]

—

The Al-Qibla Newspaper of Makkah al-Mukarrama witnesses (1917CE):

On the eve of Mawlid an-Nabi SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam celebrations are observed in Makkah and dwellers of Makkah name this day as Youm al-Eid Mawlid ar-Rasoolullah SallAllaho Alaihi wa Sallam. People use to cook food. Ameer of Makkah and Commander of Hijaz with their army use to visit birthplace of Prophet Peace be Upon Him and recites Qasida there. Rows of shining candles are positioned from Haram al-Makki to Birthplace and Shops and Houses on the way are also decorated. People use to recite Qasaid whole day at Birthplace. On the night of 11th Rabi al-Awwal after Isha, Mawlid Gathering is organized. From Maghrib prayer of 11th Rabi al Awwal to Asar Prayer of 12th Rabi al Awwal, after every prayer Salutations of 21 tanks is presented.
References:
1. Al-Qibla Paper – Makkah Mukarramah
2. Monthly Tariqat – Lahore, January 1917, Page 2/3
—
Khalil Ahmed Sahranpuri (d.1927 CE) in Al-Muhannad broke all barriers when he said: “What are we, not even a single Muslim can consider Dhikr of birth of Prophet (saw), rather dhikr of his shoes, RATHER DHIKR OF URINE OF HIS DONKEY TO BE BIDAH OR HARAM” [Al Muhannad, Page No. 60, Question No. 21]

—

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Ibn Abbad al-Maliki (d.795AH) on Mawlid

Ibn Abbad in his “ar-Rasa’il al-kubra” writes:

As for the mawlid, it seems to me that it is one of the holidays and festivals of the Muslims, and everything that is done on it out of joy and pleasure in that blessed birth, including the lighting of lamps, the gratification (imta‘) of the sight and the hearing, adornment with fancy clothes and the riding of swift steeds, is a permissible thing for which no one should be censured (layunkaru ‘ala ahad), based on the analogy with other times of rejoicing (qiyasan ‘ala ghayrihi min awqat al-farah).

To judge that these things are an innovation at this time when the secret of existence appeared, the banner of witnessing was raised, and the darkness of unbelief and denial was dispersed, to claim that this time is not one of the legitimate festivals of the people of the faith, andto compare it with [the Iranian festivals of] Nawruz and Mihrajan, is a distasteful thing from which sound hearts recoil, and which sound opinions reject.

Once in the past I had gone out on the mawlid to the riverbank, and I happened to find there Sayyidi al-Hajj ibn ‘Ashir (1) and a group of his companions; some of them had brought out different foods to eat them there. When they were ready to eat they wanted me to share their food. I was fasting at the time, and I told them, “I’m fasting.”
Sayyidi al-Hajj looked at me disapprovingly and said something to the effect that “today is a day of joy and delight (farah wa-surur), on the likes of which it is not considered appropriate to fast, equivalent to an ‘id.”
I considered what he said and found it true; it was as if I had been sleeping and he woke me. (2)

In another letter Ibn ‘Abbad responds to his followers, who have forbidden the boys in the Qur’anic schools from participating in mawlid festivities.

He advises them to allow the boys to engage in “permissible entertainment or play” (lahw mubah aw la‘b) on the occasion of the mawlid.

He cites the narration that a woman once came to the Messenger of God (صلى الله عليه وسلم) on his return from one of his military expeditions and said to him, “I had vowed that if God returned you safely, I would beat a drum before you.”

The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) replied that she should fulfill her vow. (3)

He writes:

There is no doubt that her beating the drum is a kind of entertainment (lahw). The Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) directed her to fulfill her vow to do so because its cause was joy (farah) at his safety, at which it was obligatory for her to rejoice (allati tajib ‘alayha al-farah biha). He did not equate that to vowing something that is [merely] permissible (mubah) or sinful, in that it is not obligatory to fulfill [such vows]. The same applies to someone who introduces (ahdatha) a permissible entertainment on the occasion of his rejoicing at the time of [the Prophet’s] birth, [even] without a commitment (iltizam) or vow. (4)

According to Imam Abu Hanifah and Imam Al-Shafa’i there is an established rule,

“The essence of all (everything) is permissibility unless prohibited”

(1) Imam Al-Tirmizi (d.279AH) titled a Chapter in his Jami al Tirmizi as ‘Bab Maja fi Milad al Nabi’. Imam Al- Tirmizi was a student of Imam Bukhari(d.256AH) and as mentioned before he has recorded a whole chapter on the birth of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه واله وسلم).

The above book is referred to as an important work on ‘Mawlid al-Nabi’ by Ibn Kathir in his famous book Al-Bidaya wal Nihaya.(6) ‘Al Mawlid al Jismani wal Ruhani’ by Shaikh al Akbar Mohiuddin Ibn Arabi (d.638 AH)

“Mu’awiyah, (may Allah be pleased with him,) said: ‘The Messenger of Allah [S] went out to a circle – meaning, of his Companions – and said: ‘What are you doing?’ They said: ‘We have come together to pray to Allah and praise Him for guiding us to His religion, and blessing us with you.’ He(s) said: ‘I ask you, by Allah, is that the only reason?’ They said: ‘By Allah, we have not come together for any other reason.’ He(s) said: ‘I am not asking you to swear to an oath because of any suspicion; rather Jibril came to me and told me that Allah, the Mighty and Sublime, is boasting of you to the angels.'”

While the Syrian Democratic Union Party (PYD) is hailed by some in the West almost as a pro-Western democratic militia fighting for a liberal pluralist oasis in the desert, nothing can be further from the truth. The PYD has already established a one-party regime that can be best described as a “belated Soviet experiment” in Syria. The PYD regime is the antithesis of the political pluralism and partisan competition that is the sine qua non of any liberal democracy. Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, Turkmens and even thousands of dissident Kurds have denounced the PYD’s one-party dictatorship, and “voted with their feet” in seeking refuge in neighboring Turkey as well as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Northern Iraq, both of which are defective but functioning multiparty regimes. In contrast, the PYD’s “Rojava Revolution” is the building of a one party state.

The PKK in Turkey, and its Syrian affiliate PYD, are Marxist-Leninist organizations with an overwhelmingly Kurdish militant base. Their aim, already mostly realized in Syria, appears to be the establishment of a militarized one-party regime that combines ethnic nationalist demands with socialism. This fact must be confronted in order to dispel any liberal illusions or wishful thinking regarding the role of the PKK and PYD in the political struggles taking place in the Middle East.

​IMITATING THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS ​

Firstly and most importantly, as in the Soviet experience, the PYD established a one-party dictatorship in the territories where it had gained control in northern Syria, perhaps ironically with the support of the United States Air Force, followed by even more substantial Russian military support, their geopolitical ally for many decades. The PKK also seeks to establish a militarized one-party state in Turkey’s southeastern provinces, as will be discussed below. Insistence on a vanguard party and a one-party state, implementing socialism in politics, economy, and society, are distinctive features of the PKK-PYD.

Secondly, both the PKK and PYD self-identify as Marxist-Leninist, with Abdullah Öcalan as their undisputed leader. Since the 1970s, Öcalan has articulated a nationalist socialist ideology inspired by the Soviet example, building on Lenin’s and Stalin’s works on the question of national identity. Ideologically, they see themselves as continuing the work of the Bolshevik October Revolution (1917).

Thirdly, both the PKK and PYD combine socialism and ethnic Kurdish nationalism in a way that is reminiscent of the Soviet method, which leading scholars of the Soviet nationalities policy summarized as “national in form, socialist in content.” In a nutshell, this amounts to propagating Marxist-Leninist arguments, concepts, and slogans, such as “brotherhood of nations,” but translated into Kurdish. Unsurprisingly, this does not amount to any kind of authentic ethnic Kurdish cultural awakening, just as it did not result in any kind of genuine Tajik cultural awakening in Soviet Central Asia.

Fourthly, the PYD has scared away tens of thousands of Arabs and Turkmen from the territories which it occupied, in what amounts to a policy of ethnic cleansing. Arabic and Turkish-speaking inhabitants of southeastern Turkey have also fled their homes due to the PKK’s intimidation over many years. On a much greater scale, Bolsheviks too deported hundreds of thousands of Soviet citizens including Chechens, Crimean Tatars, Germans, Greeks, Koreans, Meshketian Turks and Ukrainians during the 20th century, while chanting slogans of the “brotherhood of nations” and others exploiting humanistic sentiments.

Fifthly, the PYD and PKK have intimidated those Christian minorities under their rule, as evidenced by a joint statement of 16 Armenian and Assyrian organizations in the Hasakah province, condemning the PYD’s confiscation of their property, forceful conscription of Christians, and even interference in their church curricula (Agos, Nov. 5, 2015). The PYD’s reply was reminiscent of the Soviet response in similar situations: one Armenian and one Assyrian person spoke to Fırat News Agency, which is close the PKK-PYD, and stated that, “nobody confiscated our property… [and] we get education in our own language.” This statement was then circulated in networks sympathetic to or supportive of the PKK-PYD. This pattern resembles Soviet Communist Party’s local apparatchiks, whether Kazakh, Ukrainian, or Uzbek Communists, “refuting” the “counter-revolutionary allegations” that Kazakhs, Uzbeks, or Ukrainians are being persecuted in the Soviet Union. Kazakhs, Uzbeks or Ukrainians also “received education in their own language” in the Soviet Union, while forceful conscription, confiscation of property, and severe restrictions of political and religious freedoms were continuing.

​INCREASING NATIONALISM AND SOCIALISM IN KURDS ​

Sixthly, and perhaps most significantly, the PKK and PYD both persecute ethnic Kurds who do not conform to their socialist ideal type, because their ideology aims at a radical “social engineering” project that seeks to completely transform (or deform, depending on one’s perspective) Kurdish culture and identity, much as in the Soviet Union. Perhaps the most telling example and witness in this regard is Professor Mustafa Müslim, the elder brother of PYD leader Salih Muslim, who fled his brother’s regime and sought refuge in Turkey. Mustafa Muslim argued in a widely circulated interview, that “the PYD only represents 10 percent of Syria’s Kurds” and that “the reason for the PYD’s strength is their possession of weapons. They arrest dissidents and do not want any difference of opinion.” Thousands of dissident Kurds such as Mustafa Muslim have fled the PYD regime and are currently residing in Turkey and in the KRG, hinting that the PYD regime is a militarized one-party regime supported by only a minority among the Kurds.

Nominally, the PYD shares power with another Kurdish body, the Kurdish National Council, reputed to be closer to Iraqi Kurdish Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), but in numerous conflicts it has become apparent that the PYD has established a monopoly on military force and actual political decision-making. This is also not unlike the early stages of the October Revolution, where Bolsheviks acquired the monopoly over the means of violence and actual political power, but nominally tolerated the more popular Socialist Revolutionaries for a while, during which they concentrated on attacking the conservative, Christian, liberal, and other non-socialist opposition. PYD leader Salih Muslim recently emphasized that the peshmerga, Kurdish warriors affiliated with the KDP, would be denied entry to the Rojava region.

​THE PKK’S NO WAY FOR ANY POLITICAL PARTIES’ SLOGAN ​

The PKK does not tolerate any other political organization in the territories under its influence in Turkey. Most political parties now do not even bother campaigning in the mostly Kurdish-populated provinces in southeastern Turkey. Among the mainstream political parties, the only exception to this matter is the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which still has significant Kurdish support in southeastern Turkey, but even AK Party nominees in the June and November 2015 elections, such as the prominent Kurdish politician Orhan Miroğlu,publicly stated on many occasions that they could not conduct a political campaign outside of the city centers due to the frequent physical attacks and death threats to their members in most districts and villages. The PKK signaled its open support for the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which garnered as much as 93.5 percent of the vote in Cizre, for example, a town with over 100,000 residents. It is extremely unlikely for any political party in a multiparty system to garner 93.5 percent of the vote in a free and fair election in such a big town. The nationalist and Islamist Kurdish political parties, such as the Free Cause Party (HÜDA-PAR) and Rights and Freedoms Party (Hak-Par), are also marginalized by the PKK. Miroğlu and other dissident Kurdish politicians provide concrete examples and have reason to suspect that the PKK used violent intimidation to rig the elections in order to manufacture an electoral landslide in Turkey’s Kurdish southeast.

Some Western intellectuals’ sympathy and support for the PKK and PYD also follows the pattern set by their Soviet predecessors. Many Communist intellectuals in France and Italy during the Cold War were very critical of what they derided as “bourgeois” democracy in their own countries, and they openly supported the totalitarian one-party regime in the Soviet Union as a more democratic regime, however unbelievable this may sound in retrospect. Authoritarian (Egypt, et cetera) and totalitarian (Saddam’s Iraq, et cetera) regimes have been the source of Middle East’s problems and the PYD’s one-party regime in the making in Syria is not just unlikely to solve, but more likely to deepen those problems.

Middle East needs multiparty democracies based on negotiation and representation of popular opinions, and not militarized one party regimes relying on ideological minorities.

The PKK terrorist organization continues to abuse the rights of children in the southeast by using them as fighters, brainwashing them and coaxing them to attain a heroic position in its war.

Many civilians are fed up with the PKK’s vandalizing policies that disregard life, property and cultural heritage through digging ditches, erecting barricades and declaring autonomy, and children are also subject to PKK policies.

A photo from Hakkari’s Yüksekova district of children wearing Civil Defense Union (YPS) masks, the PKK’s newly established youth-wing for children under18, was widely published in the media on Wednesday. Holding toy Kalashnikovs and playing a game digging in the snow to make emplacements, the photo was used in the pro-PKK Dicle News Agency (DİHA), under the headline “YPS-Zarok [Child] announcement from the children of the resistance.” Over the reaction it received, DİHA later removed the report from its site. Regarding the report, İlhami Işık, a Kurdish writer known for his views on the Kurdish issue, thinks that using children as a propaganda tool comes from a “diseased mentality.” “They are even using children in their propaganda and show it off with pride. This is totally inexplicable,” he said, adding there is an animalized morality behind such a thing.

Speaking to Daily Sabah, Bahadır Gültekin, media correspondent of Amnesty International’s Istanbul branch, said such action that aims to recruit children under 15 is defined as a war crime. He said:

“Amnesty International is categorically against the recruitment and use of child soldiers in armed conflicts. Under international law, the participation of children under 18 in armed conflict is generally prohibited and the recruitment and use of children under 15 is a war crime.”

Along with using children for its propaganda, the PKK also deprives children of education by targeting schools in Diyarbakır and Şırnak. On Friday, children playing in the yard of Nuriye Eser Elementary School in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır were wounded in a PKK bombing.Furthermore, the double-story Sema Cıngıllıoğlu Primary School in the Dicle neighborhood of Şırnak caught fire from Molotov cocktails thrown by a group of PKK terrorists on Jan. 6.

Terrorists also targeted public places, Quran educational facilities and other locations populated by children last year. On Dec. 8, two schools in the Sur district were burned with hand-made explosives. On Sept. 14, a Quran educational facility was shot at in Cizre, leading to the evacuation of the building. On Oct. 8, Hasan Yılmaz, 9, was killed and three children aged 6 to 10 were injured in the Diyarbakır neighborhood of Silvan when a mortar planted by the PKK exploded.

On Aug. 20, the BBC published a story called “In pictures: PKK fighters prepare for battle with IS [DAESH].” Ankara, which believes that Western media applies double standards regarding the PKK, called the publication “unacceptable,” describing it as “written and visual propaganda” for the PKK through depicting it as “an innocent organization” fighting against DAESH.